SPEED QUEEN PREVIEWS THEIR NEW CONTROL PANELS FOR THEIR TOP LOAD WASHERS!!!

[vintagekitchen]

Electronic controls

I am not a fan of electronic controls on appliances. When my grandmother decided to redo her kitchen, she got a Whirlpool Cabrio set with electronic controls, and a Maytag dishwasher with electronic controls. I have used them, and the options are more limited tha with my mechanical control appliances, and it is more difficult to tell whats going on with them. Not to mention the washer, though a top loader, still locks the lid, so no adding a forgotten item without re-starting the entire thing. Lastly, as mentioned earlier in the thread, one has to memorize what various cycles and settings do, rather than being able to customize your settings with the mechanical controls.

I prefer the control one has over everything with good mechanical controls. As far as I can see, the only reason electronic controls are being used is they are cheaper to preduce, and make for faster assembly in the factory. Yet the electronic control machines tend to be more expensive for consumers.

 

[norgeway]

I know it will not happen!!!

BUT, Have the timer manufacturers take a good timer from the 50s, copy it exactly, then take a good BRASS water valve from the 50s COPY IT, and then LEAVE IT ALONE..except, have a good light on the back splash and one in the tub,,also, have it made all porcelian, even the outside.

 

[spinmon]

Saw this yesterday & it was the trigger to go to AAA Appliance today & order my tol tl Speed Queen pair. Our '96 Kemore 90 series pair are still working well,but if I wait till they're not,I may only be able to buy computer controlled/crap rinse/gov issue/plastic/big $$ disappointments.
Wish the SQ's had porcelin tops/lids as the painted looks/feels bl. But I like the SQ machines overall & will store/hopefully replace worn parts on the KM's.
I'll do the water level 'up' adjust on the SQ & should be good to go.
Thanks again for the good info always found on this cool site!

 

[mayken4now]

Spinmom

Which ones did you order. Perhaps the model number would be great for us to take a look. Goog going on that. Yes, thanks to the folks who contribute much needed information here. --Steve

 

[spinmon]

The AWN 542 washer & not sure of dryer,like AGE4. TOL on both,gonna be $1629.60 installed W/tax & move KM's to basement. I know it's not a 'deal',but I support the local dealer who's been in business 40 years.

 

[beekeyknee]

No one's gonna tell me what I can or cannot do with my washing machine or dishwasher. I'll take it apart and re-engineer it, I'll fill it up with a garden hose hooked to a water heater, I'll drill a hole in the side of it if I have to, I'll even boil my water myself if they f#%k with w/h's anymore. But I won't be told by the government or anybody else how to do my laundry or wash my dishes. End of GD story!

 

[mayken4now]

Spinmom

Great! Looks like wonderful choice you made. I am on board with you about the "local appliance" dealer who as been in business for a long time. I do the same thing. Don't mind paying more!

 

[vintagekitchen]

Got curious..

Out of curiosity, I called around a bit yesterday. Turns out not a single appliance dealer in my area, or in the surrounding counties carries speedqueen washers. 2 said they would be willing to special order them for me, but that was it.

All of them had the same things to say, "its a wonderful washer, I highly reccomend it, and you will be happier with it than the other top loaders they sell today, but we just can't sell them. People in this area aren't willing to pay that much for a top loader."

A sad thing really. I can understand though. Most people tend to compare machines based on appearance alone, and the speed queen looks like a basic no frills machine, so they expect a basic no frills price.

 

[beekeyknee]

Well, unfortunately the general public are idiots. They want everything to be pretty and shiny. They're like birds in cages that like to peck at themselves in a mirror and hear a bell ring.

It's a f#%k*ng washing machine for God sakes, not a jewelry box. I think a lot of them would be happy if the lid popped open and a ballerina would dance. Fortunately, most of us here at AW are smarter than the average bear.

 

[pierreandreply4]

i am for engery star qualifing appliance topload washers or

Me i am open and agree that appliances needs to be energy star qualify but why sundely change a design that as been known for years and not everyone wash there clothes everyday i know that e in my case when i do not have much to wash i sometime wait until i have a full load before starting a wash, so in a way the day i do not have to do a load of laundry even do i have a front load washer that dates from 2004 when i have only 2 3 items unless its something i need i say to my self that it can wait so in way why must they change washers to have lower water levels in the case of topload and and the point of having low fill rinse. I Have to rely sometime on hot water washing for certain items if for exemple i have to use bleach but this is very reare i eather stick to cold water wash or warm water wash when needed if things keeps up in my humble opinion we will be reading witch i hope will not happen that they are eliminating the hot water temp from washers witch will its sad to say raise the price on frontload washers that have water heater just to have the option of a hot water wash or whot water temp witch would be ilogical to eliminate the hot water tem from washers from my point of view that is. i already fine ilogical that they are making new washers all cold rinse when sometime a good old fashion warm rinse could save in drying cycle time. That go for both type of washers topload or front load

 

[qualin]

Or if they really want to be on the cusp of technology, they could just put in a LCD touch screen. No physical controls at all.. just a big LCD touch screen.

Samsung did it, they put it on their highest end machines.

Not the best thing to do, IMHO as I still like the idea of physical controls...

 

[spinmon]

beekeyknee,

Man,don't sugarcoat it,tell us what you REALLY think! 8>). Seriously,I live in St Charles & deliver (meds mostly) to Columbia fairly often.
Your 'ballerina' REALLY nailed me. Hang in,bro,you know it's only gonna' get worse.

 

[spinmon]

Most people know nothing about their shiny outside,plastic guts machine not cleaning/rinsing properly do to current extreme water use restrictions to get 'Energy' rating,or impending more restrictive regs.
Most folks have no clue that the gov/EPA are OK'ing MORE f'ng ETHANOL (15%) in our gas. Even though every car/motorcycle/marine/etc mfr I've heard of reccommends NO MORE than 10% due to fuel system damage,higher temps in air cooled engines and more. The f'ng ethanol needs CORN to produce it(which we all know is severely compromised by the drought),it REDUCES gas mlg by approx 7-10% @ 10% mix. There's more,but we are being trampled by the regs that gov,EPA,business interests foist on us,without public approval,every day.
Hate to think of ALL the other screwing we're getting in things I am unfamiliar with. ( I know cars/motorcycles/washing machines,but God help me in other things!)

 

[washman]

God help us

When these machines hit the market. Glad I got mine when I did.

 

[qualin]

This is a very old thread and not really relevant anymore.

I've posted a link to a thread dated 3/7/2013 in which there are already electronically controlled Speed Queen Top Loaders being sold in Australia. You may want to view that thread to keep ontop of what is coming.

It is only a matter of time before these machines are sold in North America, but I'm guessing that won't be the case until all of the mechanical timer stock has been depleted. I have no idea why they're not selling them here now. Even the Canadian Huebsch machines still are being sold with mechanical timers.

There have been debates of mechanical vs electronic timers for a while on this board, that's something best left for another topic.

Also note the Australian version also has "High Efficiency" and "Regular" cycles, both of which were not mentioned in the early portion of this thread.

I'm glad that Alliance went to seek input on this, while at the same time continuing to stick with real "Hands on" knobs instead of membrane switches.

If we want to continue discussing this, we really should start a new thread instead of digging up this old relic.

New Speed Queen AWNA62 T/L for my workplace :-)

Hey Well after having constant problems with the Simpson machines that my company put in all of its care homes, the management rang us the other day to inform us that the company was putting more money into appliances for their homes and we were to expect a new washing machine from 'Clean...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[Chetlaham]

Do the electronic versions have a transmission?

I would hope they at least keep the transmission and spin drain... or at least the spin drain but who knows. I will admit getting rid of the transmission would make repairs easy since the current speed queen design requires a hard tear down if the gear case fails.

It will be interesting but begging speed queen the durability and simplicty is kept like in the current designs: metal outer tub, suspension, thick metal frames.

 

[mrb627]

Transmission

I expect they will keep the current transmission as they have just increased the warranty to 15 years on the trannies in their top loaders.

Malcolm

 

[washer111]

Errrr....

I personally think the benefits of choosing an SQ TL machine with the new electronic control is practically none, aside from reliability.

 

The old mechanical models let you choose Agitation Speed (and Spin Speed), Agitation Time, varying cycles, extra rinse etc. You can also see where the cycle is at.

"Them new ones," well, you lose all of that, and have 3-4 pre-set cycles that might be too much or too little, depending you on your load. All fixed, no variability.

 

Why not include a cycle dial, speed dial and time thumbwheel or something, along with a smaller HE switch sized similarly to "Extra Rinse." That would be nice.

 

Its obvious SQ isn't quite as interested in its consumer market or TL machines at this point. Less choice = good in a COMMERCIAL setting (I.e. One dial Maytags), but in a residential setting, they need to change things up a bit to attract a larger consumer base. No, they don't need silly cycles, like "Beachtowels," but they DO need more variation in terms of washing time, water usage, agitation style across BOTH ranges. PERIOD.

If you have to pay a little extra, so be it. More variation + Reliability = Consumer Win. What they have now = "Meh, its reliable, but it needs some MORE variation."

 

Unless I have everything wrong. Highly likely. Perhaps SQ are the first manufacturer that realise that 99.9% of consumers are laundry-illerate and have made machines that reflect that. I wonder...

 

[Chetlaham]

Speed Queen knows the consumer

IMO, from reading the consumer reviews speed queen knows the customers well. Most of the reviews are from customers saying something along the lines of "I wanted a machene thats simple, durable and actually uses water, so I got a speed queen because its like our old one"

I think Speed Queen knows there is a small but rapidly growing number of people looking for machines that actually clean and dont break down so fast. Reading the reviews on the Sears, Lowes and Home Depot pages shows a lot and I mean a lot of people who are irate over the new machines that have come out in the last 4 years. In particular long time Kenmore fans are ranting about the locking lids, hour long cycles, snags and torn clothes, noise, repairs... Ive gotten the idea people arent to thrilled. While most people (something like 90%?) dont care about the machines they buy; Speed Queen knows rebadging a portion of the commercial machines will make them a profit since there is a growing demand for general consumers looking for durable machines. The local appliance place that sells Speed Queen told me a lot more people are asking for old style machines after trying out HE impeller washers and being disappointed. Not to mention you have the folks who are buying brand after brand where 2 months in the display the sings a charming tune starts displaying EEF1, FC45, F<4, LF-N or what other cryptic it can think of. That is enough to push even regular folks to do research and buy a real washer.

So far Ive had my SQ top load for about 4 months and I LOVE IT!!!!! Classic performance and for a machine thats so powerful its so quite too. Unlike the other top loaders that would wake the town when going into spin. (I had a Dircect drive maytag where the whole outer cabinet would squeel and rattle despit being level. There actually U tube videos of the same style machines doing the same thing)

I think as Whirlpool and GE compete on who can make the bigger pile of garbage Speed Queen will start gaining more customers. And truth be they dont have to worry about building a machine that lasts 15-20 either, they have to because commercial laundry is their primary business. So any machine they do sell will be built with longevity in mind. Even if Speed Queen does in the end make an economy machine for the residential market Its a safe bet on who will be buying a commercial ones.

Love Speed Queen! Long live Speed Queen!

 

[Chetlaham]

Oh. almost forgot!

Thanks malcom! I guess speed queen will keep doing its job!